


I'll take care of you now (even if you ruined my couch)

by nychtemerique



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kurapika is an abandonned kitten, Leorio is the best boy, M/M, Other, he needs to sleep tho, some Chrollo hate all my homies hate Chrollo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:27:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26460400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nychtemerique/pseuds/nychtemerique
Summary: Just a fic where Leorio finds an abandonned kitty and it happens to be Kurapika
Relationships: Gon Freecs/Killua Zoldyck (background), Kurapika & Leorio Paladiknight
Comments: 7
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter I

**Author's Note:**

> hey! so this is my very first fanfiction in English - this is not my mother tongue, please tell me if i make any mistake! i hope you'll enjoy :)

It had been dark for a while by the time Leorio left the hospital. He was used to his shift finishing in the middle of the night, and the young medical intern looked up at the dark sky whose city lights were hiding the stars.

At this hour there were no more bus or trams, and he thought that he would rather walk and breathe the night air than the entrails of the subway.

Leorio began to walk up and down the streets towards his building, enjoying the night-time face of a city he saw very little of during the day. He had been studying medicine for six years; he had few friends from high school, none from before, and he couldn't really call the people he was around now friends. He shared a busy schedule with these people, and cigarette breaks. And then he would go home.

Walking down the streets empty of cars and people in the middle of the night was one of Leorio's favorite activities. He would find comfort, walking there in silence, whistling in a low, slightly false pitch. He knew the way by heart, what every street looked like, what each sign, each signboard, each tag he came across said. The muffled city was almost an old acquaintance.

As he passed through a quiet neighborhood of middle-class houses, he began to frown. A strangled sound came to him more and more as he walked in the quiet night, and no matter how much he squinted, it was impossible to tell where the sound came from. The young doctor decided to be cautious and continued walking, hoping to find the source of the noise.

He realized that he had probably passed the source when it became a little weaker, and Leorio felt the confusion overtake him a little more; he hadn't noticed any animals in his path, not the slightest movement.

He looked around him and then turned back a little; he seemed to recognize a sound of animal origin, but it was impossible to determine where it came from. A bad feeling, however, prevented the young man from ignoring it and continue to walk home.

Leorio stopped for a moment when he realized that the sound was coming from a trash can, apparently standing on the edge of the sidewalk for the garbage truck to pass in the morning. The young man held his breath and approached.

He opened the lid and looked at some black bags at the bottom of the plastic container. There was distinct crying, and Leorio had no doubt that there must have been an animal in there, and that it was crying for help. Squinting his eyes, he spotted that a bag was moving; he put his briefcase on the ground and then plunged one hand to grab it.

He put it down on the concrete street, terrified to know what he would find in it. He opened his briefcase, took out a pocket knife he was always carrying with him, and opened the plastic bag.

“Holy damn fucking shit...”

Leorio felt his eyes widen. A tiny blond kitten was there, eyes closed, crying for help. Leorio covered his mouth, feeling horror, compassion, pity, anger invading him, and hastened to get the kitty out of his garbage bag. The little animal was still wailing, terrified and trembling, and Leorio put a slightly uncertain hand on its back to try to reassure it.

“Don't worry, buddy, I've got you.”

Leorio barely hesitated before he took off his hoodie, shivering a little in his shirt, and gently took the terrified kitten inside, shushing it softly. He had made his mind in a few seconds, and now no one could make him change his sudden, protective decision. He closed his briefcase, got up, and took out his phone.

Leorio was an intelligent man, used to emergencies, crisis situations, and trained to anticipate. He was used to guess what the person in his hands might need, and a kitten in distress was no exception. With his phone stuck between his head and shoulder, he was taking giant steps with his giant legs while holding the small animal in his arm.

“ _Hello?”_ A sleepy voice muttered after many beeps.

“Mito! It's Leorio. Thank you for picking up the phone. I have an emergency, I don't have time to explain, but can I come at your place in ten minutes to pick up some baby blankets from Gon?”

“ _...I beg your_ _damn_ _pardon?”_

“Uh, can I come by your place in ten minutes to pi-”

“ _Leorio_ _Paradiknight_ _, are you calling me at 3:37 in the morning to ask me for some goddamn reason_ _if you can pick up_ _your 17-year-old cousin's baby blankets?”_

“Er, yes?”

Mito hung up.

Then, thirty seconds later, called back.

“ _I'm warning you, this is the first and last time you do something like this to me.”_

“Thank you, you're the best!”

Mito hung up just as dry, and Leorio couldn't help smiling. As a medical student, Leorio was always broke, and did not have enough blanket in his tiny apartment (let alone soft enough) for the small terrified kitten to sleep in. The idea had come to him all of a sudden, with the rush of adrenaline flowing through his veins, and the powerful desire to protect the little one tightly pressed against him.

***

A few minutes later, the student was standing in front of Mito's door. Still shushing the crying kitty, he knocked very softly and waited.

A visibly foul-tempered Mito came to open it, and Leorio saw her dragon face fill with confusion as she laid her eyes at the young man's hoodie.

“No, Leorio, _please_ not you.”

“Huh?”

“For God’s sake do not tell me it's a baby.”

“Well, it is, but it's not a human one.”

“What...?”

“I got out of the hospital twenty minutes ago, and on my way home I came across an abandoned kitten.”

Mito looked up at him and gave him her best what-the-heck-have-you-been-doing-again face.

“So if I understand correctly, you picked up a dying kitten on the street in the middle of the night and you ask me for Gon's baby blankets for it.”

“Yes.”

Mito breathed in, Mito breathed out, and then disappeared for a moment and returned with a few soft, fluffy blankets in her arms.

“Here, you give it this, and tomorrow you take it to the vet first thing in the morning. And you better tell me everything.”

“Of course. Thanks Mito, good night.”

“Good night Leorio.”

***

Leorio closed the door of his apartment and let out a sigh. It was past 4 am in the morning, he was at home with a kitten in his arms and had no idea how he was supposed to take care of it.

He started by walking to the radiator in the living room and put down the blankets that he had stuck under his free arm. He unfolded them and stretched them out a little, then put the wrapped kitten down. He opened his hoodie, took the little animal out and put it in the pile of blankets.

The kitten huddled there immediately, and Leorio folded a corner over it. He got up and went to the kitchen. He had no idea if the kitten was old enough to eat something other than milk, so, when in doubt, he filled a plate with a little water and came to put it next to the kitten. Not seeing the little animal react, the young man grabbed his briefcase and looked for a syringe with a wide tip, without a needle, to put the water from the plate. He took the kitty very gently, orienting its face, and inserted the syringe in its baby mouth. The little animal swallowed a few sips slowly, while Leorio tried to swallow his fear of choking it.

He finally put the kitten back in its sheets and the syringe nearby, and then called Dr. Cheadle Yorkshire, who supervised his internship, to leave a message warning her that he would not be coming the next day.

He took a quick shower, then unfolded his sofa bed for the night and lay down for a few hours, his mind full of questions.


	2. CHAPTER II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i must confess i've never had a cat, so i spent a whole week watching videos and phone calling friends who have cats to learn how it works (and now i want my own)

"Anyway thank you for coming with me, Gon, it's nice. "

“Hehe, you're welcome. Mito told me all about it this morning, so when you told me you were taking it to the vet, I couldn't help but come over. I wanted to see your cat, and it's been a while since I saw you too. "

“It's good to see you. When I think that you are almost my size, even though it seems like only yesterday you were a very small kid."

“Yeah grandpa, time flies."

"Who are you calling grandpa? I'm only 24! I'm a handsome young man in my prime, for your information. "

Gon burst out laughing at his cousin's offended look, and Leorio couldn't hold back a smile. The two young men were walking in the early morning towards the nearest veterinary office. Leorio had transferred the kitten into a large box, where it was now sleeping in its blankets. Upon waking up, the small animal had taken refuge under the nearest furniture, clearly stressed by the unfamiliar environment, and Leorio had had great difficulty getting it out. He had given up bathing it, firstly because he had no idea how to wash a kitten properly, and secondly because he knew that cats were afraid of water, and he didn't want to add more stress to the little creature. The young man now carried the box in his arms, glanced at it from time to time and never ceased to be amazed that it was so small.

“So, how did you call it?”

“Who?”

“The cat!”

“Uh, I didn't really give it a name… And the little thing is not even mine. I probably won’t keep it. So for now, just "the cat" is good, isn't it?”

“This is not a name. Give it one! You don’t know what’s gonna happen with it.”

“Is it a way for you to subtly change my mind and convince me to keep it?”

“Well, maybe.”

“I can't keep a kitten, Gon. This one is very cute, but I’m barely home, and I have no time and no money.”

“So you don’t want to keep it?”

“It’s not really that I don’t want to, but yeah, it would be a bit difficult.”

Gon paused, then replied with a soft voice.

“Look, Leorio, I know you’re busy and broke, but to be honest, I’m worried about you. You’re working all the time and always sound tired on the phone, and I know you, like, don’t really have any friends. I know your studies are important to you, but you’re basically alone and I don’t like it, and Mito and Killua agree with me. A kitten is not a human, maybe it could do you some good to have a pet.”

Leorio paused before answering. He knew that since the death of his best friend Pietro a few years earlier, he had tended to withdraw from social interactions, and he also knew that his family was concerned about it. He glanced at Gon, who was walking with his head down. Leorio felt a pinch of guilt, even though he had guessed his young cousin's anxieties for a while. But before he could find his words, Gon raised his head and started teasing again, probably to change the atmosphere between the two.

“But anyway Leorio, you've got to give your kitty a name!”

"It still isn’t mine and what exactly is wrong with "the cat"?"

“What about, huh... Ku-ra-pi-ka?”

“You've just lined up four random syllables together.”

“Well, I think it sounds nice.”

“But what is wrong with the fact that I call it "the cat"?”

“No, Leorio, you don't get it! It's not "the cat"! It's a cat, and its name is Kurapika.”

“All right, all right, all right.”

“Yay!”

“But it still isn’t mine. Maybe its name is going to change.”

"You don't know that, big guy."

Leorio sighed, and decided to change the subject to redirect the conversation to Gon's high school. His young cousin began to cheerfully tell him how his classes were going, his absolute difficulties in math, and Leorio ended up losing track of the number of times the young boy mentioned Killua Zoldyck, his boyfriend for several months. When they arrived in front of the office, Leorio realized he was smiling fondly as he listened to Gon, and felt a pang of regret at having to interrupt his cousin to enter, go to the front desk and then be directed to the waiting room.

With the kitten's box on his knees, Leorio realized by looking inside that it was awake and was looking around without fully understanding what was happening to it. It began to meow anxiously, and Leorio could not help but plunge his hand into the box to pet the cat.

"It's okay baby, I've got you." He muttered. "It's gonna be alright, I promise. The vet is going to take good care of you, kitty."

The kitten rubbed its little head against his big warm hand and started purring. Leorio continued to pet it until the vet called them, without seeing the time go by.

***

The veterinarian who received them was called Melody, and Leorio felt directly reassured by her gentleness and kindness. She examined the kitten - _Kurapika_ -, and Leorio was very relieved that everything was in order concerning his health. It was a three-week-old male, and Leorio had most certainly saved his life. The kitten would occasionally meow confusedly, but let Melody examine him, kneading the table and slightly leaning against her touch, as if grateful to be taken care of. She was very gentle with him, and gratified him with a caress on the head every time she finished something. Leorio was doing small talk with her while she worked, and decided that her company was charming. Gon, meanwhile, was cooing at the kitty who paid him no mind, alternating his gaze between Melody and Leorio.

"It's really terrible, what happened to him. It doesn't stop, lately, the abandoned kittens. »

"That’s awful. Work must be heartbreaking.”

"Yes, but I’m glad to help. I prefer an abandoned kitten between my hands than alone in the street. But the shelters fill up very quickly, there's not much room left.”

"Do you think this kitten will have a place?”

Melody paused and looked at Leorio.

"I'll be able to find out after I finish his exam.”

Leorio lowered his eyes to the small animal looking at him. He tried not to think about the fact that "the cat" had already been replaced by "Kurapika" in his mind, and shushed the kitten while Melody gave him his shots.

"Well, I'm done with him. I’ll take him with the others until we find him a shelter. »

Melody grabbed him and the kitten immediately began to whine and meow, his head turned towards Leorio. The young man swallowed, then made his second decision on a whim in less than 24 hours.

"Wait!”

Melody stopped, then turned towards him.

"Actually, I think I'm going to keep it.”

Gon gave him a surprised yet ecstatic look, a big smile instantly spreading over half his face.

"Are you sure? It's an important decision, Mr. Paradiknight. You're going to have to take good care of it.”

Leorio sighed, then looked at the small fluffy ball moving his little head in the young woman's arms. Kurapika.

"I am sure. I'll take care of it. I've never had a cat, but I'll find out, and I'll always have the help of my cousin and his aunt if I need a replacement. But I want to take care of it, I really want it.”

Melody smiled at him, then came to give him back the kitten who kneaded in his arms. Leorio stroked his back and began to baby talk to him almost immediately. He didn't let go of Kurapika any more during Melody's long explanations and advices, buying adapted food and milk, kitten's bottle, litter box, special scale, and all his student's savings had been spent before he realized it. Before he could begin to panic, Gon quietly assured him that he would bring him canned food and pasta packets to finish the month, and that he shouldn't hesitate to ask if he needed them. Leorio answered him with a smile full of gratitude. Kurapika was meowing in his arms, but did not try to escape the warmth of his embrace. At some point the kitten began to purr and Leorio thought that that was it, that was the way he was going to die, feeling his heart threatening to burst with rainbows. But somewhere deep down inside he felt that this was what he had to do at this point in his life, and he smiled fondly at the small kitty.

***

When they left the cabinet, they went back to Leorio's house and Gon helped him set up his new stuff. Kurapika awkwardly went back to hide under the couch, and the two boys left him alone.

Gon eventually left to catch the afternoon classes, and made Leorio promise to send him daily pictures of the cat. The student agreed with amusement, and promised to call Mito that evening to tell her all about it.

When he was alone, he sat at his desk, took out a notebook, and spent his afternoon anxiously scouring all the articles and videos he could find on how to care for a cat. Kurapika meowed from time to time, but didn't seem determined to get out from under the couch. Leorio finally came to catch him to give him the bottle, and took the opportunity to brush him with a toothbrush to teach him to start to groom himself, then helped him to relieve himself despite the cat's confused meowing.

"I know you're confused, sorry about that. But you're too small to sleep on the cold floor, Melody said so. I'll take you back in your blankets by the radiator."

He put the little animal back in the pile of baby blankets parked in a corner of the living room, and wrapped the kitten in them. He went back to work on how to take care of a baby cat, and came to watch Kurapika from time to time. The kitten had fallen asleep, and Leorio felt waves of affection pouring over his heart. In the end, it was surely a good idea to keep him.


End file.
